To Install Bufkit on Mac OS X v.10.3-10.5.x

First, make sure you have X11 installed on you computer.  X11 is a protocol that provides a graphical user interface for programs that can't run in the Mac environment (I've used this to run GIMP, which is the opensource Photoshop, and Openoffice, before they came out with a Mac version)  X11 is included on your install CDs that came with your Mac.  It's pretty straightforward to install.  X11 is available as an optional install on the Mac OS X v10.3 Panther and Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger and Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard install disks. Run the Installer, select the X11 option, and follow the instructions.

Second, you have to download a program called Darwine.  (X11 provides the graphical interface for Bufkit to run in.)  This program tricks the program  you are trying to run (Bufkit in this case) into thinking it's running on a Windows machine.  This is also a straightforward program to install.  The version on this page is for Intel processors:  <http://www.kronenberg.org/darwine/>  I haven't tried this one, but it says it's for PowerPC processors:  <http://darwine.sourceforge.net/download.php>  The install is really simple, just drag and drop the folder from the disk image into your applications folder.

Third, download Bufkit from NWS Buffalo. <http://www.wbuf.noaa.gov/bufkit/bufkit.html>

Fourth, double click on the install icon you just downloaded.  X11 and a program called WineHelper, should open.  (This takes a few seconds.)  These programs will run Bufkit's install program.  Next, a screen that looks just like a Windows 98 screen will pop up asking where you want to install Bufkit.  Just click okay though it all; we'll find where Bufkit was installed in a second.  Wait a minute or so, and the install program should tell you everything was installed correctly.

Fifth, go to the Finder and from the Go menu click on 'Go to Folder...'  A window will opening up asking you to type in the directory of the folder you want to go to.  You now have to type in this address.  /Users/yourusername/.wine/  Type in your user name in the yourusername place.  This should take you to a window with a couple of icons in it.  Open the folder called "drive_c".  Then inside that folder open "Program Files".  The Bufkit folder should be in there, and the program should be in that folder. To clarify, the directory you want to go to is:  "/Users/yourusername/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Bufkit_DLAC2_Convective/"  (So you see what Darwine is doing, it just made a small file directory that matches a Windows directory.  Also, you have to type in the directory manually because /.wine/ is a hidden folder; you can't find it though the user interface.  So you know, all folders with a period in front of them are hidden.)

Sixth, you'll probably want to make an alias and put it in your applications folder.  (I don't think you can move the program from the folder it was created in because it needs the directories to be exact.  I haven't tried this, and I don't want to tempt fate now that I've gotten it to actually work.)  So, click once on the Bufkit program icon.  Then from the File menu in the Finder click on the "Make Alias" item or just type "command L".  An icon pointing to the program will pop up; you can rename it whatever you want.  I just named it Bufkit.  You can put that icon wherever you want.  And now Bufkit will work just how it does in Windows.  It will take a few seconds to load because to run Bufkit you now have to run three programs.  X11 which runs Darwine which then runs Bufkit, so it takes a several seconds.  Once Bufkit is running, it is just as useful and fast as it is inside Windows.

Note:  If running Bufkit causes an error, just reinstall Bufkit.